Roo
Kanga and Roo the are characters from Winnie the Pooh. Kanga Kanga is a female kangaroo and the doting mother of Roo. The two live in a house near the Sandy Pit in the northwestern part of the forest. Kanga is the only female character to appear in the books. She was based on a stuffed toy that belonged to Christopher Robin Milne. When Kanga and Roo first come to the forest in chapter seven of Winnie-the-Pooh, everyone thinks Kanga is a fierce animal, but discover this to be untrue and become friends with her. In the books, when Tigger comes to the forest, she welcomes him into her home, attempts to find him food he likes and allows him to live with her and Roo. After this, Kanga treats him much the way she does her own son. Kanga is kind-hearted, calm, patient and docile. She likes to keep things clean and organized, and offers motherly advice and food to anyone who asks her. She is protective over Roo, almost obsessively, and treats him with kind words and gentle discipline. She also has a sense of humor, as revealed in chapter seven of Winnie-the-Pooh when Rabbit connives to kidnap Roo, leaving Piglet in his place; Kanga pretends not to notice that Piglet is not Roo and proceeds to give him Roo's usual bath, much to Piglet's dismay. In the Disney adaptations, Kanga's personality is unchanged (though she is a little more sensible and does give Roo some level of independence), but she plays a slightly lesser role and does not appear as often as Roo does. Additionally, Tigger lives in his own house instead of with Kanga (Although he is seen frequently visiting her house). Kanga also has a love for carrots. She has been voiced by Barbara Luddy (1966-77), Julie McWhirter (1983), Patricia Parris (1988-90), Tress MacNeille (1999), Kath Soucie (2000-10) and by Kristen Anderson-Lopez (2011–present). Roo Roo is a young kangaroo, or joey. His mother is called Kanga. The New York Times has noted that inquiring about the fate of Roo's father is one of many questions that could be asked, such as "Where are Pooh's pants?" Because of his young age, Roo is a very small animal, the smallest in the story (other than Rabbit's friends and relations, and Alexander Beetle), although he must be very close in size to Piglet since Kanga is unable to tell the difference when Piglet jumps into her pouch instead of Roo. (In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, Roo appears to be very slightly smaller than Piglet.) He is also apparently small enough to fall down mouse holes while practicing jumps, and too small to reach the first rail of the Poohsticks bridge. Like most of the characters in Winnie-the Pooh, Roo was based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed toys. The illustrations show Roo with brown fur and an upturned tail. Roo and Kanga come to the Forest "in the usual way" in Chapter VII of Winnie–the–Pooh. He also appears in Chapter VIII, is mentioned in Chapter IX, and appears again in Chapter X of that book. In The House at Pooh Corner, Roo appears in chapters II, IV, VI, VII, IX, and X, and is mentioned in a few others. Some of the adventures that Roo experiences include being "kidnapped" by Rabbit, accompanying the "expotition" to the North Pole (and getting an impromptu swimming lesson), attending Christopher Robin's party for Pooh, getting stuck in a tree with Tigger, and playing Poohsticks. Unlike many of the other characters in the Pooh books, Roo does not have a known favorite food, although his mother makes him watercress sandwiches on occasion. He dislikes the extract of malt that his mother gives him as "strengthening medicine" after meals, though he will reluctantly take it. Some of Roo's friends include Tigger, Winnie–the–Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, and Christopher Robin. Adaptations Roo appears in the Shirley Temple's Storybook episode, played by Louis Jean Norman. Roo also appears in the Disney cartoon versions of the Winnie the Pooh stories. He was originally voiced by Clint Howard. Later performers include Dori Whitaker (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too), Dick Billingsley (Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore), Kim Christianson (Welcome to Pooh Corner), Nicholas Melody (The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), Nikita Hopkins (2000-05), Jimmy Bennett (Springtime with Roo), Max Burkholder (My Friends Tigger and Pooh) and most recently Wyatt Hall (Winnie the Pooh). In the cartoons, Roo is the smallest of the regularly appearing characters. He has brown fur and wears a light blue shirt. He often expresses thoughts and feelings that make him seem wiser than his years. In fact, on occasion Roo seems even wiser than many of the older characters. He also states that he's got a mother (Kanga) when he tries to comfort Tigger in The Tigger Movie. Some people think that he puts himself on a purple scarf Piglet has accidentally left in Piglet's Big Movie. Roo also stars in his own movie, Springtime with Roo. Roo becomes good friends with Lumpy the Heffalump in Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Roo appeared as one of the guests in House of Mouse and Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. Alleged emotional difficulties A tongue-in-cheek psychological study of Roo was published in the year 2000, by pediatricians at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. This Canadian team was following the trend of analyzing famous art works, to point out that even wonderful people can have disorders. Reuters reported as follows about the Canadian study: *The researchers said they are especially worried about baby Roo, who is growing up in a single-parent household and whose closest friend, Tigger, is not a good role model. "We predict we will someday see a delinquent, jaded, adolescent Roo hanging out late at night at the top of the forest, the ground littered with broken bottles of extract of malt and the butts of smoked thistle," the article said. Category:Winnie the Pooh Heroes Category:Kangaroos and wallabies Category:Mothers Category:Kid Heroes